George outside linebacker Jarvis Jones was diagnosed in 2009 with stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column, which might scare some teams off. Associated Press

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock thinks it's a bad year to have a top-10 pick, but believes Georgia pass-rusher Jarvis Jones would be the best bet for the Browns if they stay at No. 6.

"I wouldn't want a top-10 pick this year," Mayock said on a pre-NFL Combine conference call Monday. "I think the fifth pick in the draft and the 25th pick in this draft are very similar.

"The top 10 picks, I don't see the difference-makers that we've had the last several years -- a couple of quarterbacks last year, Von Miller (in 2011), Ndamukong Suh (in 2010). The quick snapshot of this draft is more depth, not quite the difference-makers at the top end and a whole lot of holes in the quarterback class."

With no quarterback an obvious candidate to be taken in the top 10 -- Mayock believes USC's Matt Barkley and West Virginia's Geno Smith belong somewhere between 20 and 32 -- Jarvis makes sense for the Browns and their new 3-4, multi-front scheme, he said.

Question is, will Browns doctors give Jarvis a passing grade when they check him out during the NFL Combine, which begins Thursday in Indianapolis? The outside linebacker was diagnosed in 2009 with stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column, which might scare some teams off. In fact, USC doctors deemed him unfit to play after a neck injury in 2010, and he transferred to Georgia, where he was cleared to play.

The past two seasons, he's terrorized quarterback to the tune of 28 sacks, including 14.5 in 2012 for most in the nation.

"I think Jarvis Jones is the guy, as long as he checks out medically, whose value is commensurate with the sixth pick," said Mayock. "I'm not as big on (Florida State's) Bjoern Werner at six, or (Texas A&M's) Damontre Moore at six. Other people will be, but I'm not."

Mayock said Werner and Moore, the two other big-name edge-rushers in the draft, wouldn't even crack his top 10.

"I'm not seeing the elite, quick-twitch ability to get to the quarterback," he said. "I like (Werner). I know what I'm going to get with Werner. He's a tough kid, got a good motor, he's got a good get-off, he works hard. But he doesn't have that quick-twitch Dwight Freeney get-off and go and if you're going to be a top five or top 10 defensive end, that's kind of what you want to see.

"(Moore), he's long. He does everything pretty well in the passing game, but I don't see that elite quick-twitch burst and I also don't see a great run defender. He's average against the run at best. I like 'em later in the first round, not the top 10."

Mayock doesn't like LSU defensive end Barkevious Mingo for the Browns at No. 6 -- or for any team in the top 20 for that matter.

"I have (Mingo) at the end of the first round," said. "A lot of people have him in the top 10, I've got him at the end of the first round. He's 230 pounds, he's got a little bit of stiffness to him, he obviously runs very fast. When the ball goes away from him, he's fantastic. He's a run-and-chase linebacker. I think he's got some upside as a pass-rusher. There's nothing about the kid I don't like, I just don't see a top-10 guy today. To me, I'd feel much more comfortable with him as a developmental 3-4 outside linebacker, someone that would go somewhere between 25 and 40 and I know everybody's talking about the top 10, but I just don't see it right now."

"He's explosive. He's tough. He's a playmaker. He fits in that 4-3, which is what he already played, but some teams that are in the 3-4 like him," Mayock said. "The teams like Pittsburgh, they don't care as much about length as some of the other 3-4 teams do. Pittsburgh looks at an outside linebacker and says, 'Hey, he needs to be explosive. He needs to be able to disengage from blocks. He needs to be able to pressure a quarterback.'

"LaMarr Woodley. That's who those guys look like. [James] Harrison. They look more like him than they do some of the old-school, long 3-4 guys. So, yeah, some of the 3-4 teams will see him and say, "Yes, he can play in what we do."

Mayock addressed a number of other draft issues during his call:

• On Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner: "If he runs fast, he can become a top-10 guy. Most people think he already is. I don't. I love him as a player, love him on tape, I think he's more like the 20th pick in the draft if I had to put a number on him. However, if he runs sub-4.5 [in the 40-yard dash], I think he's going to be a top-10 pick."

• On which quarterbacks might make sense for the Browns: "If Tyler Wilson [Arkansas] was there in the third round, maybe you're looking at him. Tyler Bray, the Tennessee kid, he's got huge arm talent, but a lot of questions about the kid. He could be available in the fourth round. But again, unless someone that's rated pretty highly slides down somewhere, I think you're looking at a positional draft here."

• On Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib, whom Mayock praised: "Nassib is the guy people are going to fall in love with a lot because he kind of reminds me a little bit of the ascension of [Washington's] Kirk Cousins last year and the ascension of [Cincinnati's] Andy Dalton the year before that.

"He's smart, tough, but the more the coaches get involved, they see the kid's work ethic and how much he understands the game, you're going to start to trust him. . . . There's not even one [quarterback] you would bang the table for in the first round, but then there's a whole bunch of guys after that where you're saying 'How do they fit and how much do I trust them?' The Nassib kid, people are going to trust. Outside of that, it's going to be hard to figure."

• Mayock said Barkley or North Carolina State's Mike Glennon would be good choices for the Browns if they had a second-round pick. They used theirs in the supplemental draft on receiver Josh Gordon. "I know (Glennon's) got a bigger arm than Weeden and he's a lot younger. It's just the inconsistency. It takes him too long to deliver the football. He makes bad decisions. He makes bad throws, but the arm talent is there. During this process, people are going to fall in love with him."

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